SBU Sports: Baseball seals series in clinching win over North Carolina A&T

The Stony Brook baseball team secured the series-clinching victory on April 6 after John Rizzo allowed just one run over 7.0 innings and the Seawolves erupted for six runs in the sixth inning on their way to a 12-6 win over North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.

After the Seawolves went down in order to start the game, Rizzo stranded a two-out hit with a lineout to end the opening inning.

Chanz Doughty led off the second inning with a home run, giving Stony Brook a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Luke Szepek launched a two-strike solo homer to extend the advantage to 2-0.

Rizzo followed with a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second, striking out two in the frame.

Both teams went down in order in the third, with Rizzo recording another strikeout.

Johnny Pilla drew a one-out walk in the fourth, and Szepek followed with a base hit, but the Aggies escaped the jam to keep the deficit at two.

Rizzo stranded two runners with a strikeout to end the fourth, and worked around two more baserunners in the fifth to preserve the 2-0 lead.

In the sixth, the Seawolves broke the game open with six runs on three hits and one A&T error to take an 8-0 lead. Nico Azpilcueta, who has reached base in every game this season, opened the inning with a walk and came around to score on an error. Chris Carson added an RBI sac fly, Nick Zampieron dropped an RBI bunt single, and Matt Miceli and Evan Goforth capped the rally with RBI hits.

A&T got on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, trimming the lead to 8-1. Rizzo wrapped up his outing with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Carson singled to start the eighth and stole second, but the Aggies held the Seawolves scoreless.

Matthew Canizares took over on the mound for Stony Brook in the eighth and worked around two baserunners to keep A&T off the board.

The Seawolves added four more runs in the top of the ninth on five hits to take a commanding 12-1 lead. Szepek delivered a two-RBI double, Carson drove in another with a single, and Nick Solorzano came off the bench with an RBI single of his own.

The Aggies responded with five runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the Seawolves closed the door with a flyout to right field to secure the 12-6 victory.